Foreign thinker
Frederick Kroon
Frederick KroonPhilosophy of Language and MetaphysicsNew Zealander
Life and Thought
Frederick Kroon is a New Zealand philosopher and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland. He is known for his work on the theory of reference (particularly causal descriptivism and the concept of epistemic warrant), the philosophy of fiction and empty names, and metaphysics. His research has established an important link between Kripke's causal theory of reference and descriptivist approaches.
Frederick Kroon (or Fred Kroon) is a contemporary New Zealand philosopher and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland. His main areas of research are philosophy of language, philosophical logic, metaphysics, and philosophy of science.
Kroon is considered one of the leading proponents of "causal descriptivism," an approach that attempts to combine elements of Kripke's causal theory of reference with elements of the descriptivist theory. His influential paper in this area, "Causal Descriptivism" (1987), has been highly significant. He has also employed the concept of "epistemic warrant" in the theory of reference to examine problems such as causal indeterminacy.
Other topics of interest to him include empty names, fictional objects, realism and anti-realism about fiction, and fictionalism in metaphysics. Kroon has published numerous articles in prestigious journals such as the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Review, Journal of Philosophy, and Noûs, and has contributed to discussions concerning the ontology of imaginary objects and scientific models.
He continues to be recognized as one of the active figures in analytic philosophy of language and metaphysics in the Oceania region.
